Alexandria Ocasio Cortez Says There’s ‘Upside’ to ‘Uncommitted’ Democrats Ditching Biden in Primaries Over Israel

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) is voting for President Joe Biden in November, but she showed support for dissatisfied Democratic voters who have staged primary protest votes against the president over the Israel-Hamas war in multiple swing states.

In battleground states like Wisconsin and Michigan, thousands have voted uncommitted in their Democratic primaries in a bid to push Biden to support a ceasefire in Gaza where tens of thousands of civilians have been killed by Israeli strikes meant to eliminate Hamas. Seven aid workers were recently killed in a strike, further raising concern among critics. In Michigan, more than 100,000 voted “uncommitted” in the Democratic primary.

“We need to acknowledge actually the upside of the uncommitted movement, which is that these are folks that could have easily given way to cynicism and walked away from this process entirely,” Ocasio Cortez told Stephen Colbert on Monday about the protest votes.

Critics are trying to “send a message” to the president, the congresswoman said. She and others have called for a ceasefire and pushed for the president to do the same.

“The Democratic Party has always been a coalition party and we have to bring everybody together every time because that’s what it means to be American,” Ocasio Cortez said.

She added that she and other Democratic lawmakers calling for a ceasefire are facing campaigns targeting their reelections over their Israel stance.

She urged Biden to address the concerns of “uncommitted” voters sooner rather than later.

“If our commitment to lasting peace, global democracy, and our own values for freedom of speech and liberty — then if these are the values we want to protect then we have to acknowledge and see one another for the pain that we’re holding and once people feel like their concerns have been seen then we can start the process of coming together,” she said.

Watch above via CBS.